Synopsis

Wilting tales is a collection of stories of humans that tried to bloom with hope, but ended up being wilted under the scorching afflictions of time and fate. It is a collection of seven stories which have been written in different writing styles and subjects. These are the stories of common people fighting against the malaise of curse of fate and time that leads to their wilting. These stories are a testament to the instability and proneness of that flower called life, towards being wilted.

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This happens to be the first ever manuscript I have read here, and I am quite impressed. The stories are simple but still hold complicated touches.The tattoos girl's story would be my favourite for it's beautiful thought and writing.

I must praise you for the vocabulary you have, the words you have used in the third story are just wow! And yup.. The last sentence about women really touched my heart!

All the best and I hope you will get this manuscript published very soon! :)

Dear Aviral, Good work. Except for the first story, I liked the remaining. They has something called as emotional power. I donot know if you have fished out these stories out of your experience or imagination backed by sound principles. If it is out of imagination, then you have something in you to be successful writer. As to the narrative, being a debut author, it will need some editing work, slashing of unnecessary words etc.. But as to the emotion itself, you were true to it which is what every outstanding editor would keep as their first priority. I couldnot connect to your first story, but it has visual writing.. So overall, you did a good job. As to the element of commercialism, it is something which has to be tested in the market for short stories are not received all the same, even though they might be good. So if you want to do more research i would recommend Chekov. But keep up the effort....

Here is my honest review, how I feel. Perhaps I am wrong. Two of the stories – 'Being She' and 'Grandmother’s Pyre' – are not short stories in their true sense. They are mere narratives. 'Being She' is just right for a newspaper article on the occasion of Woman’s Day.

'Grandmother’s Pyre' is a hyperbole of unnecessary pathos on the death of an aged lady. You need to tell us how she was different from other old women to justify all the mourning. Grandmother’s qualities, nature and affection for everyone would have made it a complete story. After all, who goes wailing in a funeral procession? But in this story, the relatives are wailing on the street too, as they carry the bier. The story lacks characterisation. Everyone is a nondescript uncle, aunty, brother, grandfather etc. Not a single name. A main character (protagonist) is missing, even if it had been the dead grandmother, she could have been reminisced as a strong character. One and half stars for this story.

‘The Girl With The Tattoo’ has an excellent element of story in it. It moves well, the setting is great, descriptions of a stormy evening creates a good setting and foreshadows an untoward incident. Dialogues are fairly well written, and emotions of the girl, her parents are nicely portrayed. The dialogue with the other taxi driver (while the protagonist is waiting) is too long and unrealistic. Needs to be short 2-way dialogues, not everything in one stretch, by one person. The ending, though predictable, is good, no, very good. Four and half stars to you for this story. Half a star docked for lack of characterisation.

‘Being She’ has the situation for a good story but you have made it like a mundane biography of an unfortunate woman. Like I said, it’s fine for an article on Woman’s Day. I would have written the same story more or less on similar lines but brought in elements of a villainous rival as co-worker who makes fun of and undermines her work, and an understanding and good-natured colleague (a man) to encourage her. Finally, my protagonist would get the coveted promotion and a foreign posting by crushing the villainous co-worker. Now pardon me for I have made your story into mine. Two and half stars for this one.

And you are too verbose, though you’ve admitted it. What is point of using bombastic words? Most readers would rather put down a book than use a dictionary to search for meanings. An occasional pompous usage is fine so long as it fits the situation. That will challenge the reader more. Have you noticed one paragraph: Swathed in her night gown ..... ...................... ...................... ...................... ..................... ................... ............... ................. ........................... .......................... ....................... chagrin of her manager? There many such instances in all the stories. Break long paras down using dialogues.

There are three deep aspects of storytelling. One is the world in which the story occurs. Second is the story itself. And third is the characters. There is no doubt that Aviral is a gifted writer. The world he creates and his characters live in are brilliantly depicted. A reader can easily drift into his world and talk to his characters which is no mean achievement. The only glitch I felt was in the stories which (barring the second one which was awesome) could have given the characters a wider set of colors, brushes and canvas to express themselves. Good thing is that the stories are very compact and the author has an opportunity to add that zing, twist or pathos to make them unforgettable. All books on BGB are a work in progress (mine included), so there is always a chance to make the edges smoother. Best of luck!

All three stories connected to me instantly. Loved the way author has written them in different styles and with different point of views. Hope to read the rest of the stories. This is a bloody good book and a bloody good read.!

I fail to comprehend what the author is exactly trying to say through his stories. This is yet another case of a wannabe Indian author trying to ape the Western ones.
Too heavy for my liking; I hope that the book doesn't go beyond 150 pages, else I will have a problem recollecting who I am.
Although I have been negative about this book, this is my opinion which could be wrong and hence would like to read this further so that I hope that the narrative improves.

A good book is any book that 'connects' with a reader. Aviral Singh has certainly achieved that goal; that being the toughest challenge for a writer. Wilted tales? Definitely. I look forward to see the author try and venture out to different genres. Good going.

The emotions intended to be felt by the reader have been very aptly put in the stories. The narration style has a smooth flow which makes it even better. Although work of these type might need patience to be read, yet it is worth it.

I must say that in present where authors like chetan bhagat and durjoy dutta are focussing on sales, finally I have found someone who writes real fiction. Something that holds a literary significance, not just some bollywood crap. I give five stars for that attempt and the beautiful narration style.

Grand Mother's pyre re minded me of my grand mother. Girl With The Tattoo had an amazing narration style and made me think. The last one was lyrical yet simple and to the point. Loved them all. Looking forward to reading the other stories as well.Job well done.!(Y)

The narration is simple yet gripping. All the three stories have different emotions embedded in them. What I liked the most was the change of narration style in all three stories and the way author has tried to portray simple emotions. good luck..! Hope it gets published..!

My friend suggested me to read this book and I am glad that it is the first book I read. It has a blend of simple emotions displayed in an immaculate way. I appreciate author's attempts and wish him all the best..! Girl with the tattoo was amazing..!

First one was little boring for me. Emotional touch in second one was nice. I liked second a lot. The questions raised in third story were good. I also liked how the author has written them. Simple themes simple narrative. Good work. :)

I liked reading all the stories. The flow was slow but I guess it was important to make the kind of impact it did on me. The first one made me go back and forgive myself for not being able to cry when I lost my grandfather. The second one was brilliant, made me pause for a while before I could start with the third one. The bit that I liked the most was that the girl in the third story hadn't told her office people about her misery. That's the way we women are. Thank you. All the best, would love to read more of these.

This is definitely not Aviral's best work yet. I have read some of the other stuff he has written and it is superlative. This is a good attempt to start with but I still think that there col have been a bit more takeaway from the stories. He paints a pretty picture with his words, but the stories could have been more meaningful. His writing style reminds me a lot about RK Laxman. A very good effort to start with. But you are better than this Aviral. Strive and you will meet with success.

charming stories. good prose.... all the creative writing coming through. Aviral take his time to get to the point which many readers may find tedious in this age of instant connectivity.... but i enjoyed the slow flow of the stories. and if Aviral is still unattached lucky is the lady who hooks him....

Aviral Singh

Well written. The only thing I would say is the detailing became slightly tedious after a while. At first, I thought it was quite beautiful, especially how the loss of the grandmother has been described in the child's POV. But as the story progressed, I got the feeling it focuses much much more on good writing than on the actual storyline. In my opinion, a book should have both in equal proportions. But maybe that's just me. All in all, it was a good read.

All three stories are nicely written. Grandmother's Pyre was okay-ish, The Girl with the Tattoo had a sense of sadness embedded in it and the last one, Being She was lyrical, the one I liked the most.
Would like to read further. All the best to the author. :)

Descriptive way of writing,such as yours, is meant for long writing...you have presented small incidents that occurs every other day with some life around us....... those words were able to invoke the emotions which you intended and were apt.......girl with tattoo was best of the lot for me......cheers and all the best.... :)

Aviral Singh

3 simple stories...evoke simple emotions...these are stories that v observe in everyday life while goin on with our routine...d only flaw i felt was some portions get very descriptive which is unnecessary....but would definitely want to read ahead....

Aviral Singh

There is too much description in everything. The first paragraph in the first story itself has so many details that it did not keep my attention from the beginning. I had to drag myself to read more. Your writing has a lot of telling rather than showing and so it seems more like a diary entry. Also, there are some grammatical errors.